Her Savior
by lostinneverrland
Summary: Belle is running from her drunken husband; Gaston. She ends up finding herself lost and hurt. Who's going to be her knight in shining armor?
1. Chapter 1

Belle just came home with a bag full of groceries and a large bottle of liquor for Gaston. She sighed as she set the bag on the kitchen counter and started to unpack and put them away. She wasn't happy in the relationship. All Gaston had ever been was a drunk, and often abused her when intoxicated. She rubbed a bruise on the side of her arm, shivering from just thinking about his drunken nights. Her head snapped at the sound when she had heard a scream from upstairs. She dropped the glass liquor bottle and ran upstairs, frightened that an intruder was in her home. Belle opened the door to their bedroom, and found Gaston in bed. With another woman. Belle stood at the entrance, angry and hurt at the same time. Hot tears streamed down her face as Gaston turned around, his eyes widening when he realized he had just been caught. She took of the wedding ring and threw it as hard as she could, aiming for his face. She stormed back downstairs as he yelled for her. She ran as fast as she could out of the house, never turning back to even get her car keys.

Belle kept walking along the side of the road in the rain with no where to go. She took her sleeves into the palms of her hands, wiping away her tears as she muttered curses under her breath. She didn't love Gaston, and now it was obvious the feeling was mutual. A part of her was relieved that the terrible married was over now, never having to go back to the drunken bastard. The only problem was, where did she have to go?  
She was looking up at the stars as she walked, not caring if the rain had gotten in her eyes and hopelessly trying to keep her mind off the event. Belle didn't even notice the huge sinkhole infront of her, until she tripped and fell straight in, twisting her ankle. She screamed and cursed as loud as she could. She had managed to crawl out of the sinkhole before collapsing on the sod. She was in the middle of nowhere, God knew how long it would be until someone found her. Belle started crying again, from the pain in her ankle and the pain of Gaston cheating on her. Her entire outfit was soaked now, wet from the rain and dirty from the mud. A hopeful light sparked inside of her while she noticed the lights from the head beams of the car coming down the road. She screamed as loud as she could, desperate for help.

Mr. Gold was driving down the road in the middle of the night in the pouring rain , just returning from collecting a customer's mothly rent. Out of the corner of his eye, he caught something moving along the side of the road. He didn't pay much attention to it until he heard the screams of a woman screaming bloody murder. He flinched at the sound and pulled over as fast as he could. He took precautionary steps as he opened his door to get out of the car, grabbing his cane as he slid out, careful not to slip on the slick road. He squinted, trying to get a better view of the woman muttering "Thank you, thank you, thank you" in a thick accent. Gold hobbled over to the women, slowly crouching towards her. "Are you alright, dearie?" She looked up at him with beautiful blue eyes that took his breath away. "I-I fell into this sinkhole, and I- I think I twisted my ankle pretty bad." She replied stuttering with tears running down the side of her face. He felt something almost compelling him to help this girl, and he gave in. He stood up partially and offered her the free hand he wasn't using for his cane. Gold struggled to pull her up and letting her shift all her weight onto him as they worked together to get back to his car. He swung open the passenger's side door, and made sure she was secured. "What's your name?" He asked her as he buckled her seatbelt. She looked up once again with those beautiful blue eyes. With the car providing the light, he realized she was absolutely breath taking. "Belle." She replied softly, almost a whisper. He took a moment to catch his breath before replying with. "Gold, Mr. Gold." She smiled softly. "Thank you so much for helping me, . I don't know what I would have done if you haven't came along." She thanked with her beautiful thick Australian accent. "Oh, not a problem dearie." He returned with a smile. He checked his watch and frowned a little. "Do you have an address that I could drop you off at? Do you want me to take you to the hospital?" She looked down while playing with the tatters of her top and it was obvious she was trying to fight back tears. "Um," She replied softly. "I don't have anywhere to go, actually. And no, please don't take me to a hospital." She looked at him with pleading eyes with a hint of fear. What had she been running from?

Belle couldn't go to a hospital. She knew she couldn't. If she was to, they would have to call her emergency contact, which of course was Gaston. She couldn't go back to that monster. She knew he would make sure he would never let her leave again and punish her. The strange man who had rescued her seem to understand her fear. He looked at her with soft brown eyes and nodded. "I happen to have an emergency kit at my house, if you wish?" He made sure it was okay with her. She nodded, pleased that he didn't force her to a hospital. He closed the door and slid in the driver's seat, turned on the ignition, and drove. She took a deep breath and sighed with relief. She winced at the growing pain in her ankle, but determined not to cry in front of him. She rested her head against the headrest and slowly started to fall asleep.


	2. Chapter 2

Gold looked at Belle's sleeping form. He smiled. " _God, she's beautiful", _He thought to himself. He took a quick glance at her ankle which was swelling and bruising pretty quickly.

He pushed the speed limit slightly, hurrying to get home to treat to the ankle before it became a big problem.

He focused on the road lost in his thoughts, and jumped when Belle winced and gave a small cry of pain in her sleep, reminding him that he wasn't alone. Her brows furrowed and muttered something incoherent in her sleep. She swatted at the air besides her arms and legs, bringing attention to her bruises. "NO! GASTON, STOP! PLEASE!" Gold nearly jumped out of his skin and swerved the slightest bit, but enough to wake Belle from her nightmare. She jolted awake, tears streaming down her face and hair a mess from tossing against the seat.

"Are you okay, dearie?" He asked with genuine concern. She gave him a dumbfounded look and nodded her head quickly.

"Yes, ye-yea I'm fine. Thank you." She leaned back in her seat trying to control her breathing.

Gold's curiosity got the better of him, "Who's Gaston?" He asked casually as he focused dead on the road.

Belle held her breath for an instant. How did h-? _"Oh."_ She silently realized that she must have been having nightmares about Gaston again and screaming in her sleep.

She swallowed and replied, "My ex-husband."

Gold looked back at her while raising an eyebrow. "Is he that rat bastard who gave you those bruises?"

She looked down and realized they were visible and made a poor attempt to hide them. She stared at the ground and didn't reply.

Gold put the pieces of the puzzle together pretty quickly and didn't speak the rest of the way to his house. Belle kept her gaze down and forced herself not to take a sneak of her handsome savior. She couldn't resist, and stole one glance. But just to realize he was already staring at her. She quickly averted her gaze and blushed, almost forgetting the throbbing pain in her ankle.

Once he pulled up in the driveway, she managed to hobble her way out of the car, using anything near to stabilize herself. She hopped all the way up to the front door, not wanting to burden Mr. Gold with having to help her when he already uses the aid of a cane. He followed up behind her and unlocked the door.

"I could have helped you, dearie." He turned and gave her a sincere smile. He didn't give her time to answer and walked right inside, standing behind the door allowing Belle to enter while offering her his hand. She didn't want to be rude, so she gripped his hand firmly and hoisted herself up to the door entrance and entered.

He gestured for her to take a seat on the couch while he took off his jacket to his suit and looked for the first-aid kit. Belle plopped down on the couch, trying to make herself comfortable. Gold returned awfully quickly and immediately tended to her wounded ankle. She yelped in pain. She obviously hadn't braced herself for it. She took the end of her sleeve and bit down hard, suppressing the yelps. Before she knew it, it was over.

Belle sighed with relief and gave Gold a smile. "Thank you so much, Mr. Gold. It was very kind of you to help a stranger in need. You know, you aren't like what people make you out to be. And I'm glad."

Gold chuckled to himself. "Well, it was the least I could do." He frowned but decided not to say what was on his mind.

Belle had noticed and tilted her head to the side and giggled a little. "What? What is it?" She asked him.

He frowned and said, " You should get a divorce from that Gaston fellow as soon as you can, dearie." Belle looked to the side and realized he was right.

She took a shaky breath and replied with, "I would. And I really want to. It's just that, -" She stopped short and bit her lip.

Gold looked up and caught her eye. "Just what?" He asked in his thick Scottish accent.

"I-I'm afraid of that man. I'm afraid that if I tried to free myself from that God awful marriage he would try to lay his hands on me again and convince them we had no reason to be divorced.." She trailed off as she fought the tears springing in her eyes.

Gold took her hand in his. "Any man who has put his hands on a woman deserves to be put behind bars or you should at least have a restraining order. I will personally make sure the court does so. I'll do so tonight, if you wish, dearie."

Belle looked up at Mr. Gold with a confused look. "You would do all this, for me? For someone whom you just met?"

"Dearie, I'm not just about to let a man who's abused such a wonderful woman like you get away with it! And while it's true that we have just met, I can tell you are a good person, with a good heart. You don't deserve to be treated that way. And besides, I'm the most powerful man in all of Story Brooke!" He proclaimed with a chuckle and crooked grin. "I can have a restraining order and divorce within the next hour." He promised with a sly grin.

Belle was so grateful and delighted she couldn't help but smile and throw her arms around him, engulfing him in a hug. Gold took a moment to realize what had happened, and slowly hugged her back.

Once Gold pulled away from the hug, he took a look at Belle's outfit and made a face. "Oh, dear. Your outfit is completely ruined. Here, why don't you go ahead and take a shower. I have some night clothes you can borrow, although they may be slightly too large."

Belle looked down and realized he was right. She smiled at him once again and said, "Yea, that would be great. So, um, where is the shower?" She asked taking a guess and pointing upstairs.

Gold confirmed and pointed up and said, "Yes, the second door to the right. Here, let me go get the clothes." He walked over to the closet and grabbed a silk shirt and pants and handed them to Belle along with a towel.

"Thank you." She walked upstairs and cranked up the shower while she could hear Mr. Gold downstairs trying to keep his yelling to a hushed level. She smiled to herself and shook her head. "That man couldn't be more perfect." She whispered to herself.

She stripped down putting the dirty laundry in the sink and hopped in the shower. The warm water felt nice, but the water pressure wasn't so nice to her bruises and ankle that was still throbbing. She suppressed a scream and continued to shower. Once Belle was done, she wrapped the towel around herself and grabbed her clothes and headed into the nearest bedroom; deciding it was too humid to change in the bathroom.

She shut the bedroom door and realized it was Gold's bedroom. He had a nightstand next to his king sized bed and large drapes covering the windows. He had a large dresser with a mirror attached.

Belle stood where she was and dried off.

She bent over drying her hair with the towel and was so lost in her thoughts that she didn't hear Mr. Gold's footsteps up the stairs and opening the door to his bedroom.

Belle wrapped the towel around her head, leaving the rest of her body bare as she stood up and looked into the mirror, into the gaping eyes of Mr. Gold.


	3. Chapter 3

Gold couldn't think. All he knew is one thing; that Belle was standing naked in front of him. She whipped around, removing the towel from her hair and swiftly wrapped it around her body.

"Excuse me, but um, can I continue to dress myself in privacy?" She asked in in a fast breath while her skin turned a dusty rose color; embarrassed.

Gold snapped back to reality after a few moments and nodded his head violently and shut the door as fast as he could. He made his way downstairs desperately trying to keep his mind off from that aside from her bruises she had such a soft creamy color of her perfect skin, the way her perfect- _"Damn!" _He silently cursed himself for thinking about her in such a way.

He originally went to his bedroom to change his pants being that he spilt tea down his whole pant leg. Instead, he grabbed some pajamas from the hall closet and slipped into the bathroom to change.

He still had the court on hold, discussing the restraining order from that wretched Gaston. They were trying to reason with him that his power could only do so much. He had hissed back at them that he owned the town and could fire every last one of them. Eventually, they gave in and had the restraining order issued and said that they would mail a copy to Belle and would warn Gaston tomorrow that if he was anywhere in a 500 foot radius of Belle and she called the cops, he would be arrested on spot.

Gold had some leftover Chinese food in his fridge from last night, and figured Belle may be hungry. He decided to warm it up and set the table along with tea so it was ready when she came downstairs.

Belle finally gathered her courage to go downstairs after she had gotten dressed. She took a few deep breaths, wondering if he would try to bring up what happened. She blushed and felt embarrassed just thinking about his cute surprised face when he walked in. She walked downstairs and sat at the table where Mr. Gold was sitting, sipping his tea.

"Why the sudden change of clothes?" She asked Gold, noticing his pajamas.

"Oh, I spilt some tea on my pants and had to change.. That's sort of the reason why I went up to my bedroom.." He trailed off again, directing his gaze to the floor, obviously embarrassed.

Belle shifted a little in her seat and sipped her tea just a little before her knee involuntarily had a muscle spasm and hit the table hard causing her to yelp and drop the tea cup.

"Oh, I'm so sorry Mr. Gold." She said with sincerity as she bent forward to pick the tea cup back up.

Belle groaned a little as she realized the tea cup was damaged. "I'm so sorry, but the cup, it-its chipped." She gestured to the tea cup.

Gold looked at her and very causally said, "It's just a cup." He gave her a soft crooked smile.

Suddenly, there was a loud rasping knock on the door. Mr. Gold stood up while leaning on his cane for support and walked over to the door wondering who could be here at such a late hour. Belle followed after him, curious who the visitor was.

Mr. Gold swung open the door and Belle gasped in fear.

_"Gaston." _


End file.
